Doug Pederson has already proven himself as one of the NFL's best coaches

Before the 2017 NFL season, I ranked every NFL head coach, one through 32. I had Doug Pederson at No. 26. I wasn’t alone in sleeping on the Eagles coach. This site ranked him as the worst coaching hire of the 2016 offseason, behind Ben McAdoo and Chip Kelly. ESPN did as well.

We were all wrong. Clearly.

In the offseason, I wrote, “We need to see more creativity out of [Pederson’s] offense in 2017.” We’ve seen that creativity, as Pederson evolved his scheme to help maximize the talent of Carson Wentz. And when Wentz went down, Pederson proved Philadelphia’s offensive success wasn’t the product of Wentz’s MVP-level play, as Nick Foles took over, played well and led the Eagles to the Super Bowl with a 352-yard, three-touchdown masterpiece against a fire-breathing Minnesota defense in a 38-7 win.

Pederson elevated and modernized the West Coast offense with college staples like run-pass options and zone reads. The passing game forces defenses to defend every blade of grass with a nice blend of vertical passing concepts and quick throws. The run game is varied, employing zone runs, wham blocks and pulling guards.

Shot 2 – Two things about the #Eagles run game stood out. (1) Nick Foles was excellent on RPOs on Saturday, knowing when to throw and when to hand it off. (2) There was a ton of variety. Wham, Inside/Outside Zone, Pin/Pull, Draw, Power, etc. Great game plan from coaches pic.twitter.com/YC4JcNZ7vz

It’s a joy to watch and absolute hell to defend. Just ask Mike Zimmer, whose league-best defense was left in the dust by Pederson’s offense.

Pederson has already established himself as one of the league’s more creative play-callers. It’s only his second year calling plays after working under Andy Reid in Kansas City, and he’s had to pick it up while also learning how to be a head coach. Just ask McAdoo how tough it is to juggle play-calling duties with managing every other aspect of the team.

Pederson’s play-calling shines on third down. Not only do the Eagles convert at a high rate, but they are one of the more aggressive teams on third down. Wentz finished second behind Aaron Rodgers in Football Outsider’s ALEX metric, which “measures the average difference between how far a quarterback threw a [third-down] pass (air yards) and how many yards he needed for a first down.” Only Jimmy Garappolo converted third-down throws into first downs at a higher rate.

Managing the Eagles’ locker room hasn’t been a problem for the second-year coach. This team plays hard every week and that did not change when Wentz went down with a torn ACL, and everyone outside of Philadelphia wrote off the Eagles. The locker room rallied around Foles and the Eagles haven’t looked back. We’ve seen other teams melt down after the starting quarterback goes down. Not Pederson’s team.

Eagles lost All Pro LT, probable MVP QB, MLB, rotate RBs, shaky secondary at times… still in the SB. Much props to the coaching staff and front office for building and guiding this team.

Before Foles stepped in, Wentz looked like one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in only his second season. Pederson has been instrumental in Wentz’s expedited development. From tailoring the offense to the North Dakota State prospect’s strengths (and scheming around his weaknesses) to helping him iron out the kinks in his mechanics after an up-and-down rookie season, he’s put on a clinic on molding a young quarterback.

Pederson’s coaching staff has helped turn the Eagles into a Super Bowl contender. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo will be head coaches one day. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz should get another shot at leading a team in the very near future. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland has worked around key injuries and coached up the league’s best offensive line. Defensive line coach Chris Wilson leads one of the NFL’s best four-man pass rushes. This staff is stacked, and Pederson deserves the credit for putting it together.

Two weeks after conquering Zimmer’s defense, Pederson will get his biggest coaching test yet: Taking on a Bill Belichick-coached team with two weeks to prepare. It might be daunting task for Pederson, but the Patriots staff will have a much tougher job preparing for Pederson’s dynamic offense.

Doug Pederson has already proven himself as one of the NFL's best coaches

Not bad for a second-year head coach.

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